Menagerie was a Star Trek fanzine run by Paula Smith that was best known for giving fandom and the E

Menagerie was a Star Trek fanzine run by Paula Smith that was best known for giving fandom and the English language the term “Mary Sue,” from a parody of aspirational wish-fulfillment characters in fan-fiction.

There was a weird fandom theory back in the day that Paula Smith, known for her cutting, curmudgeonly fan reviews, was actually a female pen name for Harlan Ellison to hide his love of slash. “Paula Smith is Harlan Ellison” started as a crank theory but transformed into a deeply tiresome and overly repeated private joke.